PICU Essentials vs PICULab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PICU Essentials
A practical handbook for medical professionals in pediatric intensive care units, drawing on 20 years of experience. Content is peer-reviewed and updated regularly, applicable across various settings. Proceeds support app maintenance and development.
- Practical handbook for PICU professionals
- Based on 20 years of PICU practice
- Peer-reviewed content
- Regular content updates
- Applicable in most settings
- Supports app development
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This app was designed to be used as a practical handbook for rotating residents, advanced practice providers, and fellows. It is based upon 20 years of PICU practice, and while much of the content describes practice or protocols here at UFHealth/Shands Children’s Hospital, it could be applied in most settings. This app is now in use in over 50 countries. All content is peer-reviewed, and content is reviewed for currency every 1-2 years and as needed. All proceeds from this app go toward maintaining and developing the app itself. Privacy Policy: https://skywave.io/picu-privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://skywave.io/picu-terms-of-use/
PICULab
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PICULab educational ventilator simulator brings hands-on ventilator learning to your iPhone and iPad. Adjust settings, change the patient and see the response in live waveforms, loops and measurements, breath by breath. Learn from every breath. The Learn panel explains in plain words what the current breaths show, and after each change it compares the breaths before and after. Turn on Label waves to name each part of the breath directly on the waveforms. Explore 13 ventilation modes across supported neonatal, pediatric and adult profiles, including pressure control, volume control, PRVC, SIMV, PSV/CPAP, APRV and noninvasive modes. Available modes follow the selected patient population. Open any setting to read what it does and how it changes the breath before you apply it. Start with normal lung mechanics, try the Asthma, PARDS and Circuit Leak teaching cases, or build your own patient from respiratory drive, lung mechanics and airway settings. Each case has its own targets: a reading that is off target turns red, and green once your settings meet it. The Guide explains every patient parameter, and the Tour walks you through the controls. When the patient breathes, the breaths they trigger change color on the waves and a dot marks each one. Practice inspiratory and expiratory holds and manual breaths, read the measured results and watch the lungs fill, hold and empty. Follow pressure-volume and flow-volume loops breath by breath. Pause to inspect the response, or reset to a clean normal baseline. Pinch to zoom and drag to explore the monitor, rotate your device and use flexible windows. All features are available for 24 hours from first launch. After that, a single in-app purchase unlocks lifetime access. No subscription or automatic charge. Restore an existing purchase with the same Apple Account. PICULab is an educational simulation, not a clinical ventilator or a tool for diagnosis, treatment decisions or patient-specific predictions. It is a simulation engine and does not reproduce all body dynamics or interactions between organs.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: PICU Essentials at 15.6 against PICULab's 17.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. PICU Essentials sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per year and PICULab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | PICU Essentials | PICULab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (124 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 55.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 124 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 130 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Atmosphere Apps, Inc. | Osama AlGhamdi |
In-app purchases
PICU Essentials
- Annual Subscription14 Days trial$9.991 Year
PICULab
- PICULab Lifetime Access$1.99
Questions
Is PICU Essentials free?
Is PICULab free?
Do PICU Essentials or PICULab have ads?
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